Landscape Projects On Hold

June 16, 2000|By BETH FEINSTEIN-BARTL Special to the Sun-Sentinel

WESTON — Better luck next year, Weston.

Plans to landscape State Road 84 intersections at Indian Trace and Arvida Parkway have been put on hold because the city did not qualify for an $80,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation.

Weston placed 42nd on a list of about 50 applications from other municipalities and Broward County. Each was competing for a share of $3 million in funds.

Only the top eight projects will receive the grants, which will be distributed over the next three years.

The allocations were determined on June 8 by the county's Department of Transportation. Projects that qualified were in heavily developed areas with higher traffic needs that had to be addressed.

The money will be spent to install sidewalks, bicycle paths and landscaping at some of Broward's most heavily traveled corridors, said Phil Matson, a transportation planner with the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection.

Weston was not selected because there was not as much traffic and development at the city's two targeted interchanges, Matson said.

Weston isn't out of the running for the money, however.

"They didn't make the cut, but they can try again next year," Matson said.

The city can also seek funds through other county and state Department of Transportation grant programs, he said.

Tammy Cook, the city's landscape architect, said the State Road 84 project is still a priority.

"We will look into whatever else is available and pursue those means," she said.

The two interchanges at State Road 843 are among Weston's most heavily traveled corridors.

"We believe this is important because this area is the north perimeter in the city," Cook said.

"As visitors are coming in from Naples, Weston is the first municipality they enter when they come to Broward."

Weston officials had estimated that the landscaping would cost $100,000.

In hopes of securing $80,000 from the state Department of Transportation, city commissioners recently approved allocating $20,000 in matching funds, as required by the state agency's guidelines.

The $20,000 match will remain available if Weston can obtain another grant from elsewhere, Cook said.